DRAMA AS A TOOL FOR ADDRESSING GENDER INEQUALITY IN NIGERIA
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DRAMA AS A TOOL FOR ADDRESSING GENDER INEQUALITY IN NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
Gender disparity has eaten deeply into Nigerian society, eroding human and socio-cultural balance. Discussions over this subject have taken over practically every medium in the system, particularly drama. This research examines cultural, religious, and societal behaviours that discriminate against and subjugate women.
The study employs a qualitative research design and uses content analysis as its approach. It draws on Tess Onwueme’s The Broken Calabash, which introduces us to one of the Igbo culture’s lesser-practiced traditions, Idegbe practice, among others, as well as the library.
According to the findings, men are chosen over women in critical leadership roles in Nigeria because the culture values men. Women are viewed as help-meets and thus consigned to common decorative sex slaves.
The study concluded that because nature has placed women alongside men and provided equal opportunities for individual growth, culture, religion, and society should adjust their attitudes towards them.
When a woman is liberated, she will gladly care for her house and community because it is in her nature to maintain; so, women’s liberation should be promoted in Nigerian culture through drama and playwriting among females and aspiring female writers.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Introduction.
Humans are the most beautiful thing God has ever created, and they bear His likeness. In His wisdom, He enables humans to be both men and women for His honour and harmony at all times.
The attempt to separate this unique combination inevitably results in discord and disorder, which serve as subject matter in contemporary art, particularly drama, which has emerged as the most effective vehicle for societal reformation.
In this sequence, drama has an impact on society’s transformation. “It affects the making of different choices which leads to experiencing different consequences.” (Nwangya, 50).
Gender discourses are implied in a variety of ways in contemporary drama. However, human history has always documented a perpetual fight between man and woman over numerous aspects of life.
Male dominance is frequently claimed to have defined human gender relations. Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, men and women were widely considered as possessing drastically different positions in society, with a woman’s place being
The woman was at home as a wife and mother, while the man was in the public realm. Men possessed legal authority over the lives of stolen women and children, including the ability to abuse, own, and disown them at pleasure, a glaring conflict with nature herself.
This historical conundrum has become a powerful argumentative basis in dramatic works, even in Nigeria. Tess Osonye Onwueme is one of the most prolific Nigerian dramatists working today. She has enthralled Nigerians with her captivating dramatic stories.
Her thorough understanding of Igbo culture gives her an admirable frontier for discussing issues concerning gender in both Igbo society and Nigeria as a whole. Onwueme is a scholar born in Nigeria who now lives in America.
She is a Delta State native who identifies as an Igbo. Many of her plays focus on Igbo women and their experiences with the clash between Igbo cultural customs and Igbo women who have been educated in Nigerian schools that follow the western education paradigm, in particular.
She focusses on the modern Nigerian woman’s quest for acceptance in a traditional Igbo home. According to her, “we live in a society where women face significant challenges. Others manage their lives (p.1-5).
She extends this assertion to women, whether Western or “Third World”; such an admission places the dramatist squarely in the feminist and womanist spheres of discussion.
Onwueme, a lgbo woman educated in Nigerian schools (founded by British colonisers), despite the fact that she now lives and works in the United States, has demonstrated a remarkable understanding of Nigerian culture’s traditional emphasis on the privileges afforded to men and women.
While women all throughout the world face difficult circumstances, the characters in Onwueme’s plays face particularly poignant ones. They must make decisions that will have long-term consequences for their romantic, political, and personal liberties.
According to American poet Daniela Gioseffi, “the protagonists of Tess Onwueme’s plays tend to be women who revolt against their misuse by an outdated and inhumane system” (Onwueme, 10).
Onwueme’s women frequently overcome adversity, albeit this often comes at a high cost. Although audience reactions to Onwueme’s work are diverse, the plays explore issues and tensions that spark discussions in which viewers can participate from various perspectives.
Tess Onwueme’s drama explores the dichotomy between contemporary, educated Igbo women and more traditional Igbo behaviours in a post-colonial context. What happens when Igbo women who have received an education outside of their communities return home with new Western ideas?
This battle exemplifies not only the challenges facing women in Nigeria, but also the conflict between women, traditional ideals and traditions, and new systems of thought in countries around the world.
However, Onwueme’s drama, The Broken Calabash, focusses on the present. Western-educated Igbo women who disagree with their indigenous community’s traditional values and cultural practices.
Nigerian women are viewed as household property who contribute to their families’ economic operations through marriage exchange, agricultural engagement, and other revenue-generating activities (Azikiwe, 19).
According to sociology, modern Nigerian women participate in crucial economic activities that benefit their families and the nation as a whole. A family is a fundamental social unit bound together by kinship or marriage.
It exists in all communities; ideally, the family offers its members safety, friendship, security, and socialisation (Simpson, 107). Women thus manage the home while also contributing to the nation’s economic development alongside their male counterparts.
In rural areas, women actively participate in food production, processing, and distribution, in addition to their traditional roles of procreation and home administration.
Standing and Shehannin’s investigations on women’s economic activities in Nigeria found “a higher labour force participation rate for urban women” (28). Higher parity was found to be positively associated with labour force participation in rural areas, although this was not the case in cities.
In addition to child rearing and home administration, urban women engage in trading, crafting, and distribution of commodities, the majority of which originate in rural areas. Few urban women import and market things from other countries.
Prior to that, this study examines drama as a vehicle for combating gender inequality in Nigeria, with a focus on Tess Osonye Onwueme’s The Broken Calabash.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Women’s engagement in development in Nigeria is alarmingly low. This stems from Nigerian society’s inferior status and sentimental attachment to the feminine gender; as a result, women are seen as subordinates and second-class citizens who must submit to the control of men (their husbands).
As described by Afolabi, “it is surprising to note that the subordination of women knows no boundary or barrier; it is not dependent on social, educational or economic status of women in Nigeria…” (20).
Women make up around half of the country’s population, according to various censuses, however women are not given priority in its development. Nigerian citizens, who make up the majority of the population, are expected to contribute a significant portion of their quota to the country’s development.
Their intellect should be included into the effort to build society as a whole. Unfortunately, they continue to face numerous limits and inhibitions that impede their personal development and, as a result, limit their contribution to the growth and development of Nigerian society.
Gender disparity affects women and manifests itself in practically every facet of human endeavour in Nigeria. A male child is preferred and pampered from birth, but a female child is not. As she matures, she prepares for the societal role of homemaker at the expense of greater participation in communal development.
Women are almost mute in Nigerian politics, particularly at the federal, state, and local levels, where the situation is the worst. Politics is viewed as a men’s concern in Nigeria. Women are frequently excluded from participation in community decision-making.
According to Davis et al. (2010), they do not participate in policy formation and decision-making processes, even when the concerns directly impact them. There are numerous explanations for this.
Cultural standards forbid them from attending some gatherings or actively participating in specific contexts, such as formal meetings or ceremonies. Some women have been conditioned by sociocultural structures not to be heard in public, particularly in front of their spouses, even if they have valuable views.
In terms of education, women make up a bigger proportion of illiterate populations. This could be linked to the fact that in the past, most families preferred sending their men to school over their girls, who they believed would eventually marry and become a part of another family.
Many women remained illiterate and unexposed, despite the fact that education is the primary weapon for influencing skills and attitudes crucial to people’ contributions to national development worldwide (Fredrich Herbison 2000).
This study is aimed to explore the plausibility of the employment of theatre as a vehicle for resolving gender inequality in Nigeria, with reference to Tess Onwueme’s “The Broken Calabash.”
1.3 Justification for the Study
This study found that African culture and society have been patriarchal, with women confined to the background and not holding major positions in society. Women are not elected or voted into power; instead, they are nominated or appointed to such a rare position to supplement or fill gaps caused by extra labour.
It is rare to see a woman aspire to such a critical position and be fully elected or voted for; even if she wins the election, it will be due to her connections with major political heavyweights. She is not chosen or voted into power because of her skill or sense of responsibility, but rather because “man knows man”.
1.4 Scope of the Study
The analysis takes into account both the writer and the national conscience. Tess Onwueme’s The Broken Ca/abash is used as a case study, with the impacts of Western education on Igbo communities and their residents being investigated.
How does education affect how these women view their communities and how their communities perceive them? How has a shared colonial background fuelled both rapid transformation and stagnation?
How is the female gender employed and perceived in these communities? In exploring these themes, the research aims to ensure that its readers grasp the motivations behind Onwueme’s heroines’ actions and to investigate female authority in times of major cultural change.
1.5 Method of Study
This study is based on content analysis and a qualitative approach. The primary data is obtained from a play text titled The Broken Calabash, which addresses the careless attitude of current Igbo society towards gender inequity and the need for reform, undermining other topics addressed in the work.
Secondary sources include other materials from the gender and women studies library centre and the internet that are relevant to the issue under inquiry.
1.6 Significance of the Study
This research is significant in a variety of ways. First, the study will help unfold the numerous challenges associated with women marginalisation as well as measures devised to contend with the challenges. Second, the study will help decision and policy makers in the fight against women marginalisation and serve as an example to literally writers and dramatic writers who have neglected the issues of women inequality in Nigeria, thus prompting and awakening them to the reality of advocating for the feminine gender in ot.
Third, the study will assist individuals, leaders, local governments, state administrators, personnel, and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in instilling some valued programs that improve or elevate women’s development status. Fourth, the study will also assist people to defend against any types of women’s marginalisation. Fifth, the study will also contribute to current information for students.
and others conducting similar research.
1.7 Organisation of Work
This work will be divided into five chapters, with the first chapter containing the general introduction, statement of the problem, justification of the study, method of the study, significance of the study, chapter organisation, and word definitions.
The study will thus be supplemented by Chapter 2, which will provide a review of related literature on the concept of drama, the concept of gender and gender inequality in Nigeria, gender and creativity: the contribution of female Nigerian writers, and drama as a tool for combating gender inequality in Nigeria.
The third chapter will mostly focus on a synopsis of Tess Onwueme the Broken Calabash’s play text and script analysis. Chapter four will next focus on an analysis of the text in connection to the topic at hand. Finally, the fifth chapter will address the study’s conclusion, summary of findings, and suggestions.
1.8 Definition of Terms.
Drama is described as an act or genre intended or performed to convey a message to a certain set, group, or society of people.
Gender refers to the roles that men and women are assigned in society and culture.
Gender equality is the act of granting women equal rights and advantages in society.
Gender inequality is the act of denying women of equal rights and privileges as their male counterparts in the society.
Ideghe: This is the only female-male child.
Osu: This term refers to an outcast in a lgbo community.
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